Ok, I have a 16gig card, and had about 250 MB free, went to check, and over the space of a few days, not having taken many photos or videos, or downloading much, I was down to like 35MB, looking through my SD Card, I have loads of files and folders which I don't know what they are, some of them very small (CDAInfo on Root of SD Card, MEMSTICK.IND on Root of SD Card, etc. etc.) but some of them are quite large.
Also, looking through my Xperia Play games launcher, I have many apps that are doubled, and clicking on both opens it, so it's not just an empty container. Looking at my folders on the SD Card (.android_secure), I have things like flashplayer-1.asec and flashplayer-2.asec, each one is 16MB, and I have many of these duplicates for different apps and games. Now, I think that the .android_secure folder is used for when you move your apps to the SD Card, and I'm assuming that this occured when I flashed a new rom and reinstalled the apps (the data was created on the phone memory and then when I went to move it over, it created the 2nd version) but what I want to know is, how to AVOID this happening when I flash a new Rom, or basically, how do I avoid things like this happening.
Thanks,
Niall
Just went through the .android_secure deleting one of the multiples then checking if it still ran, it did, so I decided to delete one of all of them, and bam, all apps still run, and I'm up to 1GB of free space. The .asec files are what the phone moves to the memory card when you select move to SD in the settings. Obviously, if you are flashing a new rom it doesn't delete them, and then just creates a duplicate. Some old games that I don't play (have completed them) were still in there, some of them ridiculous sizes (Battle Bears - 47MB). Removed about 20 or so off the .asec files, most of them duplicates, some of them were unused apps, and am back up to 1Gig free.
Chuffed
Anyways, anyone know a way to avoid this happening, and also, as a word of warning to everyone...keep an eye out for things like this
Niall
Nhialor said:
Just went through the .android_secure deleting one of the multiples then checking if it still ran, it did, so I decided to delete one of all of them, and bam, all apps still run, and I'm up to 1GB of free space. The .asec files are what the phone moves to the memory card when you select move to SD in the settings. Obviously, if you are flashing a new rom it doesn't delete them, and then just creates a duplicate. Some old games that I don't play (have completed them) were still in there, some of them ridiculous sizes (Battle Bears - 47MB). Removed about 20 or so off the .asec files, most of them duplicates, some of them were unused apps, and am back up to 1Gig free.
Chuffed
Anyways, anyone know a way to avoid this happening, and also, as a word of warning to everyone...keep an eye out for things like this
Niall
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you been flashing roms and not deleting your old .android.secure folder? That will happen, you should delete it before you reflash
AndroHero said:
Have you been flashing roms and not deleting your old .android.secure folder? That will happen, you should delete it before you reflash
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol, yeah, i'm new enough to Android, but learning as I go along
Related
Hey guys,
Been searching on this for a whle and haven't found the info I'm looking for.
How does the custom APPS2D actually work? By that I mean, what is it really doing? I know it's copying the app(s) to the partitioned ext2/3/4 area of the sdcard, but how does it know *what* part of the app to move as it seems something is always left on the phone.
I'm currently running AdamG's OpenDesire 3.0.5 (nice) and thanks to the script provided by msdl28712 in this thread here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=748529, I can see that APPS2SD is saving me "188MB". Pretty nice.
But my internal memory is still going down. I started out at about 148MB I think. I'm currently at about 115MB free. Of course, that's fantastic - but it sort of suggests that, even though I've downloaded loads of apps to the sd card, they will always leave some footprint/config/data on the internal memory of various sizes (as I can see it on my info page).
So really, I am still quite limited in the number of apps I can store. Even though I gave myself a nice big 4gb ext4 partition, I'll still hit a limit because of the footprint data left behind on the phone's int memory even after "copying to SD".
Is this right or am I way off?
Although I have no Actual knowledge of what you ask I will say this. The phone needs to be able to function if there is a SD card installed or not and therefore it must have info about the apps installed in the phone memory. I would imagine its very similar to windows and the windows registry. The registry will always be stored on the windows (Phone) storage and the program resources can be anywhere. Therefore when you install an app there will always be a small amount of phone storage required to link to and handle the operations of that program.
All in my opinion.
Some apps, not all, I've found in multiple places on my Eris.
I found it strange that the market wasn't consistently placing them in both places ( actually, that's a good thing, cause it would eat double the space ), but that led me to believe that the developer who wrote whichever particular app that was being stored in 2 location, wrote it to store to additional "backup" location ...
For example, say you download an item from the Android market, and it puts it in the "data\app" folder location. Well, I'd also find another copy in the root of the "cache\" folder ....
The way I found this, was I wondering where the heck all my memory was going, especially since I'd recently installed/uninstalled some various music player apps, but the space wasn't being freed up. I went digging through various folders looking for items, and low and behold, started finding the duplicately stored APK files. I started removing them, and I've monitored that files contents on a regular basis since, which has helped.
- JB
What A2SD? A2SD+, A2SD Froyo?
Found a nice explanation on CM Wiki... can't find it now though...
but there's always short explanation by MIUI Au..if you wanna give it a tryy
http://www.miui-au.com/faq/a2sd/
johnrbrown1968 said:
Some apps, not all, I've found in multiple places on my Eris.
I found it strange that the market wasn't consistently placing them in both places ( actually, that's a good thing, cause it would eat double the space ), but that led me to believe that the developer who wrote whichever particular app that was being stored in 2 location, wrote it to store to additional "backup" location ...
For example, say you download an item from the Android market, and it puts it in the "data\app" folder location. Well, I'd also find another copy in the root of the "cache\" folder ....
The way I found this, was I wondering where the heck all my memory was going, especially since I'd recently installed/uninstalled some various music player apps, but the space wasn't being freed up. I went digging through various folders looking for items, and low and behold, started finding the duplicately stored APK files. I started removing them, and I've monitored that files contents on a regular basis since, which has helped.
- JB
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First of all you are answering a quite old thread(hint: 8th august)
Second to clarify no, the app is not installed to several locations.. The apk file in the cache is just the one, that the market downloads in order to install it(hint: cache) upon installation the file is placed in the /data/app folder or in case you are using a2sd/a2sd+ it will be placed in /sd-ext/app(the phone still think it is in /data/app, but it wont take up space on the /data partition)
After the installation the downloaded .apk file is sometimes left behind, but as the /cache partition have a fixed size, this won't take up any space for app installs(/data) when the space is needed on the cache partition for another download or something else, the file is eventually deleted.
edit: for people, who want to know the answer to OP, please search I and many others have wrote it over and over again in this very forum.
I've a strange question that might or might belong in the development thread, but figured since it's a question, I'll try here first.
I'm using a Stock DeOxed Rooted Rom on my EVO.
I recently installed a few more apps and saw this pesky little warning about low on space.
When I went into my "SystemPanel" app to see how much space was left exactly and noticed that my /data folder only had around 30megs out of it's 428M available.
Ok.. time to delete some apps I thought, but then I noticed that my /system folder (Where I presume pre-installed apps live) had almost 1/3 of it's space still available (115 out of 350megs available).
So I'm wondering.....
Is there some method that I can use to install Apps directly to this folder instead of the standard /data that apps appear to go to when installed?
Is it as simple as moving the APK file with Root Explorer, or are there some under the hood items in apps that prevent this sort of thing?
I've a few rather large apps that I cannot move to the SD card due to widget problems and the like but would be perfect for the system folder if I can find a way to move them there easily.
Thoughts?
DroidGnome said:
I've a strange question that might or might belong in the development thread, but figured since it's a question, I'll try here first.
I'm using a Stock DeOxed Rooted Rom on my EVO.
I recently installed a few more apps and saw this pesky little warning about low on space.
When I went into my "SystemPanel" app to see how much space was left exactly and noticed that my /data folder only had around 30megs out of it's 428M available.
Ok.. time to delete some apps I thought, but then I noticed that my /system folder (Where I presume pre-installed apps live) had almost 1/3 of it's space still available (115 out of 350megs available).
So I'm wondering.....
Is there some method that I can use to install Apps directly to this folder instead of the standard /data that apps appear to go to when installed?
Is it as simple as moving the APK file with Root Explorer, or are there some under the hood items in apps that prevent this sort of thing?
I've a few rather large apps that I cannot move to the SD card due to widget problems and the like but would be perfect for the system folder if I can find a way to move them there easily.
Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
/system/app is where system apps are kept. If I remember correctly, any app can be installed into there, but you have to do through flashing an update.zip if I'm remembering properly. You may be able to take the apk that's in /data/app for the app you want to move and move it to /system/app, but I'm not sure if that will work properly or not. Someone who cooks ROMs might know more.
Also, you can partition your sd card and use true apps2sd with most ROMs. Its a little bit of work and will shorten the life of your card, but that gives you a lot more room if you need it.
I don't know that there's a way to move user apps to system. It's very possible there is a way, I've just never seen any posts about it. Apps 2 SD is usually the way to go.
ps. 30 megs?!?! Geez, how many apps do you have?
Sent from my SUPERSONIC
Easy peasy
First, use a true apk backup tool to backup e apk files you want to move. Titanium backup will NOT work because it compresses and distorts, and we need true apk files. I recommend file manager by adao team. Just go to applications, check what you want, and hit backup. Next, get the apk files on your computer by mounting sd and copying files from backups folder. You will lose all app data, but what can you do? Next, adb push the files to system app folder while in recovery mode (just say so if you don't know how to do this and i will tell you) and reboot. Done. Tell me if it works well.
By the way, 30 megs???
Doesn't froyo install to the sdcard if you tell it to?
I thought a2sd was obsolete
You can put apps there after changing the folder's permissions but I wouldn't recommend it. Just not a good idea to put regular apps there.
Just install them to your SD card instead
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
go into the android app manager and go through all your programs and click on move to sd card...
they will all still occupy some space on your nand, but not nearly as much.
Thanks for the advice, I thought it might not be as easy as moving them, oh well, just seems a shame for there to be over 100 megs I cannot do anything with.
I already had moved all I could to the SD card prior to posting this, but thanks for that advice as well, I'm sure others forget they can do that with Froyo.
As for the 30 megs I had left.. we'll it's back up to about 70 free which should be plenty for a while. (Remember we only have about 420 to start with).
Some of the big ones which could not be moved to the SD card are:
Swype (Deleted, took over 17megs)
TouchDown (12 megs.. must keep for tasks sync sadly)
Google Maps update (7.6 megs)
Documents to go (8megs)
A few various games that cannot yet be moved to the SD card at around 5megs each..
The rest are just lots of little apps.. I'm sort of an app junkie You should have seen my old Palm Centro... it was amazing!
According to Titanium, I currently have 194 'User apps', though I think a few are simply widgets, icon packs and the like.
Over the past 6 months I have collected a plethora of "****" on my SD card, lots of apps that left behind empty folders, logs, etc. I want to "fresh start it" and wipe everything off of it to eliminate all the folders that are no longer needed. Yes, I'm a app downloader/uninstaller, lol and as I'm sure some of you know leaves behind a trail of crap on your storage medium.
My question is, what does the SD card HAVE to have left on it (if anything) for the phone to operate correctly? I am Rooted/S-Off/SkyRaider 3.3.
Do i need to leave update.zip for instance on it, pictures i can i move to my Linux box, but I would hate to format the SD only to find out I just borked myself by removing a crucial system file the custom roms or rooting need.
I would also move my RomManager backup to my LB as well, just thought of that....
Anyone know?
i would leave clockwordmod folder, android.tether, android, and titanium backup folder..i mean thats what i have and would keep on my phone...I'm sure your setup is similar.
Thank you! =)
Damn good post. I went ahead and wiped my SD as well through clockwork. I saved my pictures and stuff to my desktop and then retransfered from there. What really sucks is organizing my pictures/music/media/ Sometimes when I switch ROM's I forget the camera auto saves pictures to internall emmc folder. What would be prime is to have it auto sync with a service like drop box.
so... we dont need :
"update.zip"
data
permissions log
blackberry? (never understood this being on my card)
etc...
i just formatted card via settings - storage - card format...
it took like 2 secs... and i have 3-4 gig of music on there...
seemed too fast for a format...
only 2 files it left on card was android.secure and lost.dir
i am re-adding some files i need, but wondering if your list above is the only "neccessary" files - obviously i'm adding my backups but i'm nervous cause theres a ton of files i'll be "missing"
i do have it backed up on 2 pc's, so i guess i'm covered...
hoping this helps - really just want a fresh canvas to work with...
I have a 8gb sd card what are the bare necessities I should have on it. How do I know what I can safely delete. If I see folders with the names of apps that I no longer use, is that safe to delete? My card is half full. I also see folders with different rom names that I no longer have installed. I do manual full wipes 3x on everything when I reflash. Just looking for a little more knowledge in the sd storage area. Thanks guys
I usually backup the whole sd card while messing with this (then delete backup when I'm sure things are smooth)!
1. if you don't use it, LOSE it. (Is there an uninstaller that gets rid of all this crap?)
2. ...UNLESS you've uninstalled an app you plan on using again one day; keeps the settings; nice. Eg, sports apps that are out-of-season.
keep non-market *.apk files in /download so you don't have to hunt them down again, but clean out other downloads (pics, etc) that are trash. (Btw, the .apk files can add up; you can move them to computer, but I always keep at least a decent file mgr apk and Amazon Appstore apk on SD so I can easily get to work after a wipe/flash.)
Kernels, radios, etc: move to computer so there are no mishaps
PHOTOS: smash 'em all into one directory (I use /pictures) with subdirs if you want, point your photo apps to save to that directory. That'll get rid of a billion photo app directories :
(note: I also set default cam to save to SD card dir).
Also makes syncing with computer a breeze.)
MUSIC: have you tried Amazon Cloud or Google Cloud thing? (I have invites for latter if you want one)
Titanium Backup: one copy of user files (to get data); and use Dropbox (if you're Pro user) for redundant backup (it's saved me once!). But I'd keep ONE backup of user apps/data on SD just for convenience.
cwm ROMS: I keep a stable one or two via RomManager/backups, but I move the others to computer (until they're stupidly outdated).
Otherwise a good cache cleaner can keep **** clean on your SD card (and if you play too much with dirs of apps you use, it'll piss off the apps
SDcards get cluttered really easily when installing/uninstalling roms to test. I've always deleted the folders from old roms that I don't plan to reinstall later.
You can pretty much delete what ever you want from your sd as long as you dont want it. Apps will regenerate folders and files. Also if you want to keep some stuff but want more room on the sd there is always emmc with around 7gb free.
I did a fresh install of 47A stock yesterday. I wiped everything, I wiped my entire internal storage and I deleted everything Android related from my 64GB MicroSD card. The only thing left on the card was a single folder for file storage, a TWRP backup, and a Titanium Backup folder.
Well, as soon as I booted into the ROM for the first time and started installing files, a folder called /Android/ immediately appeared on my 64GB card. It's got two folders /data/ and /media/ in it. Inside the /data/ folder are folders for almost every app I have installed since installing this ROM. Inside those folders are various other folders, depending on the app. Most of them are named 'files' or 'cache' or 'media' or generic stuff like that.
So does anyone know why this would happen and how I can prevent it? I didn't do anything to make this happen, this isn't something I set up. It just happens as soon as I install these apps, on a brand new clean install. (Worth mentioning, this clean install isn't the first time it's happened. This is just the first time I'm actually looking into it or trying to fix it.)
One of the strange things is, most of these folders don't have anything in them. Picking one at random, /extSD/Android/data/au.com.shiftyjelly.pocketcasts/files has nothing in it. I found one or two of these bottom level folders that have files in them. /extSD/Android/data/.com.google.android.music/files has a 36 byte file in it called "_playmusicid" for example. But the vast majority of the bottom level folders are just empty.
I've attached a screenshot showing what this /extSD/Android/data/ folder looks like. Seriously puzzled here.
Actually it seems like /.com.google.android.music/files/ might be the only file with any actual data in it...